Where There Is No Doctor 2011 239
HOW TO PREVENT SPREADING SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED infections
1. Be careful with whom you have sex: Someone who has sex with many
different persons is more likely to catch these infections. Prostitutes are especially
likely to be infected. To avoid infection, have sex with only one faithful partner. If you
or your partner have sex with anyone else, always use a condom.
2. Get treatment right away: It is very important that all persons infected with
a sexually transmitted infection get treatment at once so that they do not infect
other people. Having one STI also makes it easier to become infected with HIV or
other STIs. Do not have sex with anyone until 3 days after treatment is finished.
(Unfortunately there is still no cure for HIV. See p. 397.)
3. Tell other people if they need treatment: When a person finds out that he or
she has a sexually transmitted infection, he should tell everyone with whom he has
had sex, so that they can get treatment, too. It is especially important that a man tell
a woman, because without knowing she has the disease she can pass it on to other
people, her babies may become infected or blind, and in time she may become
sterile or very ill herself.
4. Help others: Insist that friends who may have a sexually transmitted infection
get treatment at once, and that they avoid all sexual contact until they are cured.
HOW AND WHEN TO USE A CATHETER
(A RUBBER TUBE TO DRAIN URINE FROM THE BLADDER)
When to use and when not to use
a catheter:
• Never use a catheter unless it is absolutely necessary and it is impossible
to get medical help in time. Even careful use of a catheter sometimes causes
dangerous infection or damages the urinary canal.
• If any urine is coming out at all, do not use the catheter.
• If the person cannot urinate, first have him try to urinate while sitting in a tub
of warm water (p. 236). Begin the recommended medicine (for gonorrhea or
prostate trouble) at once.
• If the person has a very full, painful bladder and cannot urinate,
or if he or she begins to show signs of poisoning from urine, then and only then
use a catheter.
Signs of urine poisoning (uremia):
• The breath smells like urine.
• The feet and face swell.
• Vomiting, distress, confusion.
Note: People who have suffered from difficulty
urinating, enlarged prostate, or kidney stones should buy a catheter and keep it
handy in case of emergency.